Dr Willow Neal 🏳️🌈
@willowneal.bsky.social
Conservation ecologist (They/Them). Butterfly PhD.
https://sites.google.com/view/willow-neal-phd/
https://www5.open.ac.uk/scholarship-and-innovation/esteem/projects/themes/access-participation-and-success/evaluating-lgbtq-awarding-gap-and-supporting-our
https://sites.google.com/view/willow-neal-phd/
https://www5.open.ac.uk/scholarship-and-innovation/esteem/projects/themes/access-participation-and-success/evaluating-lgbtq-awarding-gap-and-supporting-our
Reposted by Dr Willow Neal 🏳️🌈
I’ll be doing my talk at @niscifest.bsky.social at 4pm today. A few of my colleagues are here too, with the first speaker starting in 15 mins! Come along if you’re interested. #NISF #NorthernIreland #Ecologi
February 12, 2026 at 12:47 PM
I’ll be doing my talk at @niscifest.bsky.social at 4pm today. A few of my colleagues are here too, with the first speaker starting in 15 mins! Come along if you’re interested. #NISF #NorthernIreland #Ecologi
Reposted by Dr Willow Neal 🏳️🌈
Come to Hamburg and do a PhD on insect/spider traits with me!
February 3, 2026 at 9:08 AM
Come to Hamburg and do a PhD on insect/spider traits with me!
In a few weeks I’ll be talking about #biodiversity loss, ecological restoration and urban #butterflies including the restoration work we are doing at the @openlivinglabs.bsky.social at the Northern Ireland science festival in Belfast! #NISF.
It’s free! nisciencefestival.com/event/how-to...
It’s free! nisciencefestival.com/event/how-to...
How to turn urban spaces into wildlife havens | NI Science Festival
nisciencefestival.com
February 2, 2026 at 11:40 AM
In a few weeks I’ll be talking about #biodiversity loss, ecological restoration and urban #butterflies including the restoration work we are doing at the @openlivinglabs.bsky.social at the Northern Ireland science festival in Belfast! #NISF.
It’s free! nisciencefestival.com/event/how-to...
It’s free! nisciencefestival.com/event/how-to...
Reposted by Dr Willow Neal 🏳️🌈
LAST CALL 🐞
The #ForestInvertebrates SIG brings together research on trees, invertebrates & urban ecosystems.
📅 5 March
📍 Hyde Park Learning Centre
🌱 Optional field visit on 4 March
Submit your research abstracts by 5pm today (30 Jan) for a chance to join the programme 🔽
The #ForestInvertebrates SIG brings together research on trees, invertebrates & urban ecosystems.
📅 5 March
📍 Hyde Park Learning Centre
🌱 Optional field visit on 4 March
Submit your research abstracts by 5pm today (30 Jan) for a chance to join the programme 🔽
Forest Invertebrates SIG 2026
Submit your abstracts by 5pm today!
buff.ly
January 30, 2026 at 10:00 AM
LAST CALL 🐞
The #ForestInvertebrates SIG brings together research on trees, invertebrates & urban ecosystems.
📅 5 March
📍 Hyde Park Learning Centre
🌱 Optional field visit on 4 March
Submit your research abstracts by 5pm today (30 Jan) for a chance to join the programme 🔽
The #ForestInvertebrates SIG brings together research on trees, invertebrates & urban ecosystems.
📅 5 March
📍 Hyde Park Learning Centre
🌱 Optional field visit on 4 March
Submit your research abstracts by 5pm today (30 Jan) for a chance to join the programme 🔽
Utterly ridiculous. Segregated ponds is a new low. Glad this was stopped.
BREAKING: WIN 🏳️⚧️ 💥
The High Court just refused Sex Matters' permission to ban trans women from the Hampstead ponds. We're relieved that the ponds can remain a place where trans people have always belonged.
Thank you to the all the people that pushed back against division.
The High Court just refused Sex Matters' permission to ban trans women from the Hampstead ponds. We're relieved that the ponds can remain a place where trans people have always belonged.
Thank you to the all the people that pushed back against division.
January 29, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Utterly ridiculous. Segregated ponds is a new low. Glad this was stopped.
I can’t stop buying #tarantulas any time I want… #Vitaliuschromatus. She must have been pretty thirsty!
January 22, 2026 at 11:28 AM
I can’t stop buying #tarantulas any time I want… #Vitaliuschromatus. She must have been pretty thirsty!
Reposted by Dr Willow Neal 🏳️🌈
From soil to canopy, urban trees support rich invertebrate life 🌿
Join our #ForestInvertebrates SIG on 5 March 2026 for interdisciplinary talks, research case studies & discussion.
📝 Abstracts welcome – Deadline 30 January
🚶 Optional field visit: 4 March
👉
Join our #ForestInvertebrates SIG on 5 March 2026 for interdisciplinary talks, research case studies & discussion.
📝 Abstracts welcome – Deadline 30 January
🚶 Optional field visit: 4 March
👉
Share your Research by 30 January
Forest Invertebrates Special Interest Group, 4-5 March
buff.ly
January 21, 2026 at 4:00 PM
From soil to canopy, urban trees support rich invertebrate life 🌿
Join our #ForestInvertebrates SIG on 5 March 2026 for interdisciplinary talks, research case studies & discussion.
📝 Abstracts welcome – Deadline 30 January
🚶 Optional field visit: 4 March
👉
Join our #ForestInvertebrates SIG on 5 March 2026 for interdisciplinary talks, research case studies & discussion.
📝 Abstracts welcome – Deadline 30 January
🚶 Optional field visit: 4 March
👉
Buying one new tarantula after a decade really opened the flood gates… unbelievably addictive hobby. Welcome slings of #Birupes simoroxigorum and #Dolichothele rufoniger #tarantula #spider #bugsky. Will stop buying them soon/probably/eventually…
January 16, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Buying one new tarantula after a decade really opened the flood gates… unbelievably addictive hobby. Welcome slings of #Birupes simoroxigorum and #Dolichothele rufoniger #tarantula #spider #bugsky. Will stop buying them soon/probably/eventually…
Reposted by Dr Willow Neal 🏳️🌈
Nice to be starting 2026 with our new paper with @sei.org on making #CitizenScience biological recording more inclusive @savebutterflies.bsky.social doi.org/10.5334/cstp...
Increasing Inclusivity in Biological Recording in the United Kingdom: Progress to Date and Future Priorities | Citizen Science: Theory and Practice
doi.org
January 12, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Nice to be starting 2026 with our new paper with @sei.org on making #CitizenScience biological recording more inclusive @savebutterflies.bsky.social doi.org/10.5334/cstp...
Creeping over the edge waiting for the cricket… I love this #spider, it’s so colourful and active #tarantula #Chromatopelmacyaneopubescens
January 12, 2026 at 3:36 PM
Creeping over the edge waiting for the cricket… I love this #spider, it’s so colourful and active #tarantula #Chromatopelmacyaneopubescens
Well colour me suprised, turns out no one cares except massive bigots. Who knew. 👇🏻
Useful reporting from Translucent. When we’ve suggested that trans women don’t pose a risk, people have argued that’s because of under reporting. These FOI requests suggest that might not be the case
www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/01/almo...
www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/01/almo...
Almost no one is complaining about trans women in women's spaces, study finds - LGBTQ Nation
“This is a manufactured controversy, not a documented crisis.”
www.lgbtqnation.com
January 7, 2026 at 10:39 AM
Well colour me suprised, turns out no one cares except massive bigots. Who knew. 👇🏻
Had an amazing new years visiting friends in Dorset and playing with a drone out at the New Forest!
January 3, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Had an amazing new years visiting friends in Dorset and playing with a drone out at the New Forest!
Reposted by Dr Willow Neal 🏳️🌈
Prepping the December catch for genetic #sequencing. Most of this plate is the bug Trioza urticae, which are found in nettles and we have absolutely loads at the living labs! Interesting to see their numbers grow over the past few weeks— maybe this is the peak? #nature #entomology #genomics #BIOSCAN
December 22, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Prepping the December catch for genetic #sequencing. Most of this plate is the bug Trioza urticae, which are found in nettles and we have absolutely loads at the living labs! Interesting to see their numbers grow over the past few weeks— maybe this is the peak? #nature #entomology #genomics #BIOSCAN
This was such an excellent listen. As someone from a #workingclass background I really related to this!
Our latest podcast on being working class in the environment sector is live⚡️ with -
🐦⬛ RAVEN networks' Nadia Shaikh
🏗️ ISEP's chief Sarah Mukherjee
𖣘 WCCA founder Emma River-Roberts and
🍃 @britishecologicalsociety.org 's SEED co-lead Dr Ciara Dwyer
🎧 Listen now pod.fo/e/368517
🐦⬛ RAVEN networks' Nadia Shaikh
🏗️ ISEP's chief Sarah Mukherjee
𖣘 WCCA founder Emma River-Roberts and
🍃 @britishecologicalsociety.org 's SEED co-lead Dr Ciara Dwyer
🎧 Listen now pod.fo/e/368517
Eco Chamber: Access Denied: Does the environment sector have a problem with class?
In this episode, we investigate the representation of working class voices in the UK’s environment sector, reveal exclusive ENDS analysis on the industry’s make-up and hear from those trying to...
pod.fo
December 18, 2025 at 10:26 AM
This was such an excellent listen. As someone from a #workingclass background I really related to this!
Reposted by Dr Willow Neal 🏳️🌈
Excited to launch the new improved Reproducible Code guide from @britishecologicalsociety.org @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social FREE online here! www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/... Amazing work by some very talented ECRs. We hope it’s useful!
December 16, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Excited to launch the new improved Reproducible Code guide from @britishecologicalsociety.org @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social FREE online here! www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/... Amazing work by some very talented ECRs. We hope it’s useful!
New baby Grammistola pulcripies! This is an extremely addictive hobby… #Tarantula #Bugsky
December 9, 2025 at 7:24 PM
New baby Grammistola pulcripies! This is an extremely addictive hobby… #Tarantula #Bugsky
After a years of deciding on a second tarantula I finally landed on one I’ve had my eye on for years. Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens. I love them. Hungry all the time and dashed so fast it scared the life out of me. Good fun! #BugSky
November 30, 2025 at 7:23 PM
After a years of deciding on a second tarantula I finally landed on one I’ve had my eye on for years. Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens. I love them. Hungry all the time and dashed so fast it scared the life out of me. Good fun! #BugSky
This gets published but my manuscript has been with the editor for 2 months 😢
"Runctitiononal features"? "Medical fymblal"? "1 Tol Line storee"? This gets worse the longer you look at it. But it's got to be good, because it was published in Nature Scientific Reports last week: www.nature.com/articles/s41... h/t @asa.tsbalans.se
November 29, 2025 at 2:19 PM
This gets published but my manuscript has been with the editor for 2 months 😢
Reposted by Dr Willow Neal 🏳️🌈
Anyone considering doing a #PhD with us at the OU in life science or #environment ILESLA is a fantastic opportunity to take part in a world class PhD training programme, find out more this Wednesday
Thinking about a research degree in life or environmental sciences? We offer 4-year PhD studentships that cover your course fees, provide a tax-free living stipend, and include additional funding for project costs and travel. Find out more and register for our virtual open day. www.ilesla.ox.ac.uk
November 24, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Anyone considering doing a #PhD with us at the OU in life science or #environment ILESLA is a fantastic opportunity to take part in a world class PhD training programme, find out more this Wednesday
Reposted by Dr Willow Neal 🏳️🌈
Watson was deeply influential to me as a genomicist, but not how you may assume
From stealing Rosalind Franklin's lab notes to his frequent sexist & racist bioessentialist comments later in life, he showed how the scientific community would still worship a terrible person
Don't idolize bad people
From stealing Rosalind Franklin's lab notes to his frequent sexist & racist bioessentialist comments later in life, he showed how the scientific community would still worship a terrible person
Don't idolize bad people
BREAKING: James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA’s double helix whose work reshaped medicine, forensics and genetics, dies at 97.
James Watson, co-discoverer of the double-helix shape of DNA, has died at age 97
Scientist James Watson, who shared a Nobel prize for helping discover the double-helix shape of the DNA molecule, has died. He was 97.
bit.ly
November 7, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Watson was deeply influential to me as a genomicist, but not how you may assume
From stealing Rosalind Franklin's lab notes to his frequent sexist & racist bioessentialist comments later in life, he showed how the scientific community would still worship a terrible person
Don't idolize bad people
From stealing Rosalind Franklin's lab notes to his frequent sexist & racist bioessentialist comments later in life, he showed how the scientific community would still worship a terrible person
Don't idolize bad people
Reposted by Dr Willow Neal 🏳️🌈
🤔 ‘One day it struck me that the world would be a very different place if environmental crimes were treated in the same way as murders. So, why aren’t they? And should they be?’
#ecocidelaw #greencrime
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
#ecocidelaw #greencrime
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Should we treat environmental crime more like murder?
Serial killers and violent criminals dominate the headlines. What if we covered ecocide and pollution in the same way?
www.theguardian.com
October 25, 2025 at 10:44 AM
🤔 ‘One day it struck me that the world would be a very different place if environmental crimes were treated in the same way as murders. So, why aren’t they? And should they be?’
#ecocidelaw #greencrime
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
#ecocidelaw #greencrime
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Reposted by Dr Willow Neal 🏳️🌈
The Government has tabled 67 last-minute amendments to the Planning & Infrastructure Bill.‼️
Rushed through with little scrutiny, it’s a shambolic way to reform the planning system.
It creates confusion, sidelines science and leaves nature dangerously exposed.
(1/3)
Rushed through with little scrutiny, it’s a shambolic way to reform the planning system.
It creates confusion, sidelines science and leaves nature dangerously exposed.
(1/3)
October 14, 2025 at 12:04 PM
The Government has tabled 67 last-minute amendments to the Planning & Infrastructure Bill.‼️
Rushed through with little scrutiny, it’s a shambolic way to reform the planning system.
It creates confusion, sidelines science and leaves nature dangerously exposed.
(1/3)
Rushed through with little scrutiny, it’s a shambolic way to reform the planning system.
It creates confusion, sidelines science and leaves nature dangerously exposed.
(1/3)
Reposted by Dr Willow Neal 🏳️🌈
We're excited to welcome our Oct #OUGradSch25 PhD cohort to campus today! We can’t wait to hear about their research journeys.
On Fri, we’ll also welcome Professional Doctorate students.
Also welcome to the first PhD by Distance Learning cohort!
@oulibrary.bsky.social @openuniversity.bsky.social
On Fri, we’ll also welcome Professional Doctorate students.
Also welcome to the first PhD by Distance Learning cohort!
@oulibrary.bsky.social @openuniversity.bsky.social
September 30, 2025 at 2:20 PM
We're excited to welcome our Oct #OUGradSch25 PhD cohort to campus today! We can’t wait to hear about their research journeys.
On Fri, we’ll also welcome Professional Doctorate students.
Also welcome to the first PhD by Distance Learning cohort!
@oulibrary.bsky.social @openuniversity.bsky.social
On Fri, we’ll also welcome Professional Doctorate students.
Also welcome to the first PhD by Distance Learning cohort!
@oulibrary.bsky.social @openuniversity.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr Willow Neal 🏳️🌈
PhD researcher Elaine Hooton is shining a spotlight on geodiversity and calling for a shift in how we talk about the non-living foundations of our planet. Elaine shared this inspiring photo of geodiversity in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.
Read more 👉 research.open.ac.uk/news/giving-...
Read more 👉 research.open.ac.uk/news/giving-...
September 22, 2025 at 10:01 AM
PhD researcher Elaine Hooton is shining a spotlight on geodiversity and calling for a shift in how we talk about the non-living foundations of our planet. Elaine shared this inspiring photo of geodiversity in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.
Read more 👉 research.open.ac.uk/news/giving-...
Read more 👉 research.open.ac.uk/news/giving-...
Reposted by Dr Willow Neal 🏳️🌈
The far right turnout today is much smaller than the number of people who came to protest at London Trans Pride this year, but the far right will of course get infinitely more press coverage.
September 13, 2025 at 10:54 AM
The far right turnout today is much smaller than the number of people who came to protest at London Trans Pride this year, but the far right will of course get infinitely more press coverage.